General Sans Font Family
General Sans is a versatile rationalist sans serif typeface designed by Frode Helland for the Indian Type Foundry. This typeface draws inspiration from the aesthetics of 1950s France and is characterized by its clean, orderly letterforms that maintain a sprightly feel.
Font Family Overview
The General Sans family includes 12 styles, featuring:
- 6 weights: Extralight, Light, Regular, Medium, Bold, and Black.
- Italic versions for each weight.
- 2 variable fonts that allow for a range of weights and styles within a single file.
The design of General Sans is compact and rational, making it suitable for both display use and long-form text. Its ascenders are crafted to match the height of capital letters, contributing to a neat appearance that works well in various applications, including branding and editorial design.
Design Features
Key characteristics of General Sans include:
- Geometric influences: Many capital letters exhibit geometric shapes, such as the closed ‘G’ without a spur and the vertical stroke tail on ‘Q’.
- Numeral options: The font includes two numeral styles—standard numerals that are slightly smaller than capital letters and alternate numerals that match the height of capitals. It also supports superior and inferior numerals for better fraction settings.
- Unique letterforms: The lowercase ‘a’ is double-storey, while ‘g’ is single-storey. The wide design of letters like ‘f’ and ‘t’, along with circular dots on ‘i’ and ‘j’, adds to its distinctiveness.
Usage Considerations
While General Sans is praised for its aesthetic appeal, it may present challenges in smaller sizes due to its closed apertures, which can lead to legibility issues in user interfaces or small text settings. Therefore, it is often recommended to pair it with more functional typefaces for such applications.
General Sans is available for free for personal use under the ITF Free Font License. For full licensing options or commercial use, contacting the Indian Type Foundry is advised.
Designed by:Indian Type Foundry
License: Free for personal use
